Electrostatic Chuck Plate Resistor Thermal Spraying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrostatic chucks for substrate processing, such as those used in semiconductor wafer RIE processes, face challenges with thickness, thermal conductivity, and manufacturing cost due to the use of spiral heaters and adhesives, leading to poor start-up properties and low thermal response.
Innovation Solution
A thin electrostatic chuck with a plate-shaped resistor and two electrode plates, where one electrode plate serves as the high voltage electrode for attraction, is manufactured using a thermal spraying method, eliminating the need for adhesives and reducing thickness, allowing for improved thermal conductivity and responsiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a spiral heater is used in the electrostatic chuck, then heating function is provided, but the electrostatic chuck cannot be made thin and has poor start-up property and low response speed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the spiral heater structure with a plate-shaped resistor that is stacked between electrode plates. This substitution changes the heating element from a three-dimensional spiral configuration to a two-dimensional plate structure, enabling thinner overall design while maintaining heating functionality. The plate-shaped resistor provides sufficient heating area without requiring the bulkiness of a spiral configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material construction by stacking multiple functional layers including electrode plates, plate-shaped resistors, and insulating members in a laminated structure. This composite approach allows integration of heating, electrostatic attraction, and insulation functions within a thin profile, achieving both thermal performance and structural compactness.
2Strength
If adhesive is used to join the electrostatic chuck to the base, then joining is achieved, but thermal conductivity is reduced and manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the adhesive layer from the structure by directly bonding the electrostatic chuck to the base through sintering. This extraction of the adhesive intermediary eliminates the thermal resistance it introduces, enabling direct thermal conduction path from the heating element through the chuck to the base, thereby improving thermal conductivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the adhesive joining method with a sintering-based direct bonding method. Instead of using a separate adhesive material, the structure is joined through a copying of the sintering process used for manufacturing the electrostatic chuck itself, creating a metallurgical or ceramic bond that provides both mechanical strength and thermal conductivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables high responsivity to temperature control, reduces manufacturing costs, and extends the life span of the electrostatic chuck by eliminating the need for adhesives and hot pressing, while also simplifying the design to reduce electromagnetic wave leakage filters and improve deformation resistance.
Implementation Method 1
a heater which includes a plate-shaped resistor and two electrode plates respectively brought into surface-contact with a front surface and a rear surface of the resistor
Implementation Method 2
a high voltage electrode plate for electrostatically attracting a target substrate
Data Source
AI summary
In an electrostatic chuck provided inside a processing chamber of a substrate processing apparatus and including a high voltage electrode plate for electrostatically attracting a target substrate, a heater includes a plate-shaped resistor and two electrode plates respectively brought into surface-contact with a front surface and a rear surface of the resistor, and one of the two electrode plates of the heater serves as the high voltage electrode plate for electrostatically attracting the target substrate.